Body

Consumer experts have long recommended against buying Extended Service Contracts (ESCs) with products, since they are rarely cost effective. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research examines the reasons why so many people ignore the experts' advice.

Authors Tao Chen (University of Maryland, College Park), Ajay Kalra (Rice University), and Baohong Sun (Carnegie Mellon University) used purchase data from the electronics department of a retail chain to examine who buys the extended service contracts and what factors drive their decisions.

It's common for retailers to bundle two different products (like razors and blades) together and describe one as free. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that this strategy leads consumers to devalue the items when they're sold individually.

Ads that feature positive emotions, like happiness, are not always the best way to reach consumers, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

Authors Loraine Lau-Gesk (University of California, Irvine) and Joan Meyers-Levy (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis) investigated consumer attitudes toward emotional ads. They discovered that people's responses are affected by factors such as the amount of mental energy or attention they are able to devote to the ads as well as the physical layout of the advertising.

You need to move out of your apartment. Do you call in your friends and family to haul boxes and furniture or contact a moving company? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that sometimes the emotions connected with asking for favors can actually drive people to the market.

ST. PAUL, Minn. –People with memory problems who are depressed are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease compared to people who are not depressed, according to a study published in the June 16, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. However, the research also shows that the popular Alzheimer's drug donepezil may delay the progression to Alzheimer's disease for depressed people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or memory problems.

Healthcare providers must carefully consider the unique risk factors related to severe obesity in patients undergoing all types of surgery, according to an American Heart Association scientific advisory published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Heart problems in particular are often underestimated during a physical examination in the severely obese patient, according to the advisory.

The skin disease psoriasis is associated with atherosclerosis (a buildup of plaque in the arteries) characterized by an increased prevalence of ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral artery disease and an increased risk of death, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Topical application of the chemotherapy medication fluorouracil appears to reduce potentially precancerous skin patches and improve the appearance of sun-damaged skin, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Surgical gloves that develop holes or leaks during a procedure appear to increase the risk of infection at the surgical site among patients who are not given antibiotics beforehand, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Rhinosinusitis (infection and inflammation in the sinus passages surrounding the nose) appears to be a primary factor in about one-fifth of toxic shock syndrome cases in children, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Adding an antiviral agent to corticosteroids for treatment of Bell's palsy (a condition characterized by partial facial paralysis) is not associated with improved recovery of facial movement function, according to a meta-analysis of previously published studies in the June issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Scientists from A*STAR's Institute of Materials Research andEngineering (IMRE), led by Professor Christian Joachim1, have scored abreakthrough in nanotechnology by becoming the first in the world to invent amolecular gear of the size of 1.2nm whose rotation can be deliberatelycontrolled. This achievement marks a radical shift in the scientific progress ofmolecular machines and is published on 15 June 20092 in Nature Materials3 ,one of the most prestigious journals in materials science.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - There may be thousands of things large and small that can be done to better control pollution on even the smallest waterways, and a new tool developed at Purdue University may help sort out how to choose the best ones.

SAN FRANCISCO (June 15, 2009) - It's two inches long, grows on wood, and is shaped like a phallus. A new species of stinkhorn mushroom, Phallus drewesii, has been discovered on the African island of Sao Tome and graces the upcoming cover of the journal Mycologia. The mushroom is named after Robert Drewes, Curator of Herpetology at the California Academy of Sciences, and is described in the July/August issue by Professor Dennis Desjardin and Brian Perry of San Francisco State University.

RICHLAND, Wash. -- DNA might be the blueprint for living things, but proteins are the builders. Researchers trying to understand how and which proteins work together have developed a new crosslinking tool that is small and unobtrusive enough to use in live cells. Using the new tool, the scientists have discovered new details about a well-studied complex of proteins known as RNA polymerase. The results suggest the method might uncover collaborations between proteins that are too brief for other techniques to pinpoint.